In Quotebook, a selection of riders detail how their races played out in the sixth round of the 2022 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship at Southwick.

450MX

Image: Octopi Media.

Ryan Dungey (Red Bull KTM) – Seventh:
The day was pretty good. I got a good start in the first moto and I actually had a tip-over and recouped still in fifth. I was able to make a pass on Kenny for fourth and pretty much hung there for the rest of the moto, so I was happy with that. The first half of the second moto was really solid, but the second half I kind of ran out of steam. I just have to keep being patient – physically, it was tougher than normal – but we’ll try to keep building and get the bike a little bit better. I’m excited to go to the hometown race next weekend and try to put in a good showing there.

Aaron Plessinger (Red Bull KTM) – Third:
It was an interesting one today! I felt good in qualifying, but the numbers didn’t show with P19. In the first moto, I was feeling good and started flowing and caught up to almost fifth and then lost my tear-offs in the last few laps, so I ended up seventh. Second moto, I got off to a sick start and me, Eli [Tomac] and Kenny [Roczen] were battling there for a bit. I got by Kenny and tried to pace Eli for a bit, but Chase [Sexton] was on rails and I started making a few mistakes there at the end. Overall, it was a really good day and I’m heading into Spring Creek with high confidence.

Justin Barcia (TLD Red Bull GasGas) – 10th:
I love this place! The fans are great here and it was fun, to say the least. I definitely struggled today, though, and I’m very not happy with my results, obviously. I was going from a podium last week to not-so-good results, so this weekend is tough mentally, but I need to regroup. I was riding well in the first moto and then I had a crash and got landed on, so I got pretty tore up there. I was pretty sore for the second moto but I pushed as hard as I could, I just didn’t come home with the result I was looking for. We’re going to go back, regroup and come out to Millville swinging.

Shane McElrath (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) – 13th:
My day started out a lot better, I had my best qualifying sessions, as far as getting a good feel of the track and putting some good laps in. The track was honestly really, really rough for our second practice and it just continued to get worse. I definitely struggled and fought against the track all day, it was a little bit disappointing. I’ve got some stuff to figure out and I’m gonna keep working. That’s really all I can do.

Christian Craig (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) – Fifth:
I’ve never really been great here at Southwick. I’ve had decent results but never really gelled with the track, so I really wanted to do well this year. We qualified decent and in the motos I got off to two good starts and led the first moto for almost 20 minutes. I made a couple of big mistakes that cost me huge and was shuffled back to third and stayed there. I was pumped with that as it’s been a while since our podium at Pala.

Eli Tomac (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) – First:
It was an awesome day at Southwick. It really couldn’t have been better. In moto one, I didn’t have the best start, but I was able to come through the pack and make quite a few passes early in the race and get to the front. In moto two, I got a much better start. Here you kind of have to be gritty and really go for it the whole moto. It’s definitely the hardest track of the year physically, so you just have to tough it out. It was a pretty special day for us to go 1-1, and I’m proud of the team. We made a few small adjustments in practice to get everything dialed, and it paid off.

Ken Roczen (Team Honda HRC) – Fourth:
It was a tough one. We obviously know that this track is very unique. I’ve been trying to improve my bike and myself. In the first moto I was getting beat up and couldn’t make anything happen. That was tough to swallow because I just wasn’t feeling it. We made a little change for the second moto, which helped me out, but I haven’t found a breakthrough setup yet. I’m hanging in there, and the team’s doing a great job of sending me stuff as quick as they can, doing everything they can to get me happy. Today wasn’t the result that we want, but I’m happy that I at least ended on a much better note in that second moto. I’m looking forward to trying to improve for Millville.

Chase Sexton (Team Honda HRC) – Second:
My first moto start wasn’t horrible, I was in a good enough position, even though Eli passed me. The second-moto start was not good; I think I just sat there and spun. I think I was outside the top 10, and it’s hard to come through a pack that’s this deep. Starts are something I’m going to focus on this week, because if you start out front, it just makes your life a whole lot easier. Other than that, I felt really good on the bike. I’ve never loved this place… my best overall finish was seventh, so second’s obviously a lot better than that. I was pretty happy with my riding. In the second moto, I kind of came alive towards the end. All in all, it’s positive, and on to the next one.

Jason Anderson (Monster Energy Kawasaki) – Eighth:
I felt like I had the speed to be up near the front today. My Kawasaki KX450SR was hooking up great during qualifying and gave me a ton of confidence heading into moto one. Unfortunately, I got caught up in a first turn pile-up and fought back from 33rd place up to eighth. I got a much better start in the second moto but I was spent after having to fight so hard in moto one that I had to ride smart and manage a sixth-place finish. Overall, I think we still had some positives come out from today.

Joey Savatgy (Monster Energy Kawasaki) – 12th:
That was a tough race. My starts this weekend were okay, but there’s certainly room for improvement there. I think I showed everyone last weekend just how good I can be with a decent start. I want to try and focus on getting a little bit better on those so I don’t have to battle my way through the middle of pack early in the race and instead can gain more experience battling with the leaders on race day.

250MX

Image: Octopi Media.

Seth Hammaker (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) – 11th:
This was my first time racing at Southwick and I was excited to learn a new track. I quickly realized this was going to be a physically demanding race course as I went through practice and strategically decided to use the practice sessions as an opportunity to find consistent lines instead of homing in on one fast lap. I got an okay start in both motos but it was hard for me to make a lot of passes happen on this track, especially with how deep the field is. As a racer, we’re never completely satisfied with how we perform but we showed promising speed in the race and will work on getting better starts so we can battle with the guys up front next weekend.

Jo Shimoda (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) – Second:
I had good speed in the first moto but spent too much time following the guys in front instead of making passes early on. In moto two, I got an okay start and actually passed the guys in front quicker than in the first moto but the track was so gnarly by that time of the day that I couldn’t mount a real late-race charge for second. I still finished second overall, which is a good result for us.

Hunter Lawrence (Team Honda HRC) – Seventh:
Rough day. It was great last year, running 1-1, but this year we just sucked. It was almost like me and Jett [Lawrence] did a role reversal from last year. I’m going to have to go to the dentist this week, after crashing in the first moto—got cross-jumped and then hit by another guy. It is what it is now—I can’t change it. I did everything I could, but it was just a really, really tough day. We’ll bounce back.

Jett Lawrence (Team Honda HRC) – First:
It was good. Qualifying went great — P1 — and I was really happy with my starts today. In the second one I had a better reaction but went into the deeper sand a little bit. I was second into the turn but was able to cut down a little bit and was able to collect the holeshot, thankfully. I had a little bit of a battle with Levi [Kitchen] and then was able to break him a little bit, with lappers. Then I just ended up maintaining. The track was brutal today, but the bike felt awesome and was running great. It’s good to get that red plate back.

Michael Mosiman (TLD Red Bull GasGas) – Eighth:
It was a tough day, indeed. I felt like I rode really well and my fitness was quite strong, but a poor start was kind of the story and I just made the best of it, especially in the first moto. I was having a couple of silly issues, just with goggles and we’ve been messing around with the bike a little bit, so there’s certainly things to work on. Frustrating finishes but there are positives and we’re going to focus on those and build on those. I’m going to clean up my starts and try to make sure that I’m where I need to be from the get-go.

Pierce Brown (TLD Red Bull GasGas) – 15th:
It was a struggle of a day. I battled with bad starts and it was hard to make passes out there with the sandy terrain, I’m not really used to that. All-in-all, I had fun out there and I put some pretty good laps together in the first moto. The second moto, I just struggled all around. I’m hoping to put that one in the past and gain some momentum here soon.

Justin Cooper (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) – Third:
It was a better day, for sure, and while it was good, we need to keep working. Our team has been making progress, and it showed at Southwick. I’ll be looking to keep getting better to try and be back up on the podium again where we belong.

Levi Kitchen (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) – Fourth:
In the first moto, I kind of had to work my way through from the back after a few mishaps but got up to eighth. The second moto was great, though! I got a good start and made a quick pass for second. I tried to run with Jett as long as I could and had a few opportunities, but I rode it out and finished fourth overall.

Nick Romano (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) – 14th:
It was a good day and we made some good changes in the right direction. A 10-15 result for the day doesn’t necessarily look good on paper, but we had some positives to take away from it. In the first moto, I ran in the top five for about 20 minutes, and in the second moto, I was sixth for about 15 minutes. The fitness will come, and I’m not worried about it. I’m looking forward to Millville.

Nate Thrasher (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) – Ninth:
I felt like I had the speed in both motos for a top five. In the first moto, I was running about eighth but went down and couldn’t get back to that same intensity after I got back up. The second moto was a lot better for me to come from about 15th to finish sixth. It was a better weekend for us, the track was brutal and we put in a good fight.

RJ Hampshire (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) – Fifth:
We made it through another pretty solid day. The first moto, I had good speed and a lapper stalled in front of me and I jumped right into him and lost that podium. Second moto, I didn’t have a good start at all. All-in-all, we had some progress and a bit of positives today. We’re working hard and the team is working hard also, we’ve had something special here for these last five or six rounds. We’ll take this week to get healthy again and come out swinging for Millville.

Stilez Robertson (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) – Sixth:
Qualifying was a little rough, I couldn’t find my flow and with Southwick, you have to get it soon and fast, which kind of stressed me out. First moto, I was just kind of  flat – not really energywise, but riding-wise, I had nothing in me. Second moto, I was good at the beginning and then just got smoked. My body went away and I was trying my best.

Jalek Swoll (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) – 10th:
It was a tough track today, but it was good. I’m happy to get through two motos again, that’s something we can keep building off of and finally start to find some sort of rhythm this year. I think my speed is good, I just have to get that intensity back. The guys are going really fast right now and they have a lot of motos under their belts. I’m just playing catch-up right now, but I’ll start to find the flow and start clicking off some good days.

Max Vohland (Red Bull KTM) – 12th:
I qualified the best all year and rode really fast in the second qualifying practice and into the first moto with a top-10 start. I moved up to fifth and I was riding really good, then just kind of hit the wall, as they say. I felt like I didn’t have anything left and really was just trying to survive that second moto. I just need to work on that endurance.